Characteristics of A Political System

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Political System
Political system is an important concept in political science. A political system determines
political power, political culture, and nature of the state, political mobility and so on. Before we
discuss the meaning of political system, it is desirable to explain the words ‘political’ and
‘system’. The political refers to power, influence, control or authority, use or threat of use of
physical force etc. On the other hand, a system refers to few elements that are in interaction
with each other. At the state level, such a system denotes a number of structures, groups,
agencies and organizations etc. that operate at different levels for different purposes.
A political system shows how the various units that constitute a system become the objects of
power, influence, control or authority that a state possesses. It is to be borne in mind that a
state despite its unrestricted power cannot apply force on any unit at its will. There must be the
rationale behind the application of force by a state. In other words, the force to be applied on
the system units should be legal and legitimate. Thus, Max Weber defines a political system ‘as
a human community that successfully claims the monopoly of the legitimate use of physical
force within a given territory’. Two important elements can be deduced from this definition.
First, although the state enjoys unlimited and unrestrained power, its application on the system
units should be legitimate. Second, the force is to be applied on the system elements living
within the space as demarcated for the state.
Characteristics of a political system
The following are the characteristics of a political system:
1. The first characteristic of a political system is that it allows the legal authority to use
force. But the force to be applied should be legitimate.
2. The political system involves interactions between the formal and informal institutions.
Among the formal institutions are the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. The
informal institutions include political parties, interest groups, media and
communication, traditional structures like kinship, clan, caste, groupings etc.
3. All the parts of a political system are interdependent. For example, if there is a labour
strike for wages, there may be the intervention of trade unions, police and even
governmental authority to resolve the issue.
4. Political system is comprehensive because it includes all the interactions from the
formal as well as informal institutions in the society. For example, it includes the
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interaction of regionalism, religious upheavals, inflation, party politics, tactics of

pressure groups and social changes brought about by modernization.
5. Since a political system consists of different actors, such actors change their boundary. It
means that the same individuals who perform role in social and economic system also
play their notable role in political sphere.
Functions of a political system
A political system performs the following two types of functions:

(1) Input functions (political functions) and
(2) Output functions (Governmental functions)
(1) Input functions : David Easton classifies input functions into two types, demands and
supports.
Demand: Among the demand side are the following:
(a) Allocation of goods and services such as demands for more wages, and fixation of
working hours, opening of educational institutions, provision of recreational facilities,
roads and transportation.
(b) Participation in the political system, such as the right to vote, to hold office, to petition
government bodies and officials, and to organize political associations such as pressure
groups and political parties.
(c) Regulation of behaviour such as provision for public safety, control over markets and
rules pertaining to marriage, health and sanitation.
(d) Communication and information, such as demand for communication norms and policy,
power of the political system in time of threats or on ceremonial occasions.
Support
The examples of support which the people get in the political system are:
(a) Material support such as the payment of taxes or other levies and rendering services as
labour or public works or military services.
(b) Attention paid to government communications and the manifestation of respect to
public authority, symbols and ceremonials.
(c) Obedience to laws and regulations
(d) Participatory support such as voting, political discussions and other forms of political
activity.
2. Output functions
These are the functions performed by the government in response to the input (political
function)
(a) Rule making : Rule making is known as legislation. Rule making goes on in every type of
government whether democracy, dictatorship or monarch. Now-a-days in a democratic
set-up, the rule making power is exercised by the legislature or parliament.
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(b) Rule application : The rules made by the legislature or the Executive are enforced by the
bureaucracy, therefore its role and importance have considerably increased. Moreover,
rule application also implies that the established goals of the society are fulfilled. It also
sees their interaction of the laws on the society.
(c) Rule adjudication : It is the duty of the judiciary to interpret the laws and punish the
guilty. Judiciary also resolves the conflicts between the government and citizens and the
citizens themselves.

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1

Characteristics of a political system

The following are the characteristics of a political system:

interaction of regionalism, religious upheavals, inflation, party politics, tactics of

Functions of a political system

A political system performs the following two types of functions:

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